Councillors express concern over lack of car parking spaces in Castlebar for shoppers
Cllr Ger Deere
Full car-parks in Castlebar are putting shoppers off coming to the county town to do their business, according to a local councillor.
Speaking at last week's MD meeting, Cllr Ger Deere asked for a breakdown on the number of car-parking spaces available around Main Street and Market Square and also the number of resident and business permits allocated for these areas.
“A lot of business people are saying that from early in the morning the car parks are full up, to their knowledge, by people working in the town. If that is the case it is totally unacceptable because it is stopping people coming shopping in the town. We also need to look at residents' car parking because it throws off shoppers from coming to the town.”
Cllr Al McDonnell said people using the car parks near the Mall were saying to him they have to "walk a very long way to do their business".
"Can we have 10-minute parking and loading bays around The Mall and Spencer Street. I ran this by some coffee shops on Spencer Street and they said they would be happy with it.”
He said there were additional issues at the Castle Street car park, where a number of businesses had to travel long distances to bring stock to the shop.
"Could there be two loading or delivery bays close to Danolla’s, it would assist those businesses.”
Cathaoirleach Cllr Donna Sheridan said the carparks are "full at 10.30am for the day and this is having an impact on shoppers".
"Can we look to have some plan in place to assist people before Christmas, so it is possible to bring people into town and we always afford free parking at Christmas.”
